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The smash-hit Disney Broadway musical Newsies on the Big Screen in SA

Broadway at its best on the Big Screen

A once-off screening of one of Broadway’s most successful musicals in recent years, the Tony Award-winning musical, Newsies – the Broadway Musical sings and dances its way onto the big screen in South Africa for one night only – Wednesday, 22 February at 19:45.

Based on the 1992 musical film of the same name starring Christian Bale, Newsies tells a timeless story about the power of standing up for one’s rights. Boasting award-winning song and dance performances, Newsies – the Broadway Musical promises to be one of the event cinema highlights to be screened at Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas in 2017.

Newsies is inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway ‘newsies’ on a two-week-long action against publishing giants such as Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies tells the rousing tale of ‘Jack Kelly’, a charismatic newsboy and leader of the ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. When publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies the ‘newsies’ from across the city to strike for what they believe is right.

Since opening on Broadway in 2011, Newsies has played 1 711 performances between Broadway and the North American tour, to more than 2.5 million audience members in 65 cities across the country.

One of these performances, captured live at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in September, is being broadcast into cinemas across the globe in February, including here in South Africa, thanks to Ster-Kinekor.

In the filmed production, Jeremy Jordan reprises his Tony Award-Nominated performance as newsboy leader Jack Kelly. Joining Jordan in this high-energy show from the original Broadway cast include: Kara Lindsay as Katherine, Ben Fankhauser as Davey and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie. They are joined by North American Tour stars Steve Blanchard as Joseph Pulitzer, Aisha de Haas as Medda Larkin and Ethan Steiner as Les, together with members of both the Broadway and North American Tour ensembles, who fill the stage with more ‘newsies’ and more dancing than ever before.

Tony-nominee director Jeff Calhoun has bulked up the cast, giving Tony-winning choreographer Christopher Gattelli even more jumps, flips, and kicks to work into the popular dance routines. The production features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, screenplay adaptation by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. The entire creative team has reunited to bring this break-out smash musical, which includes such hit songs as ‘Santa Fe’, ‘Seize the Day’, ‘King of New York’ and ‘Carrying the Banner’, to cinema audiences around the world.

Newsies – The Broadway Musical releases in South Africa exclusively for one screening only – on Wednesday, 22 February at 19:45 – at the four Nouveau sites: Brooklyn in Pretoria, Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg, Gateway in Durban and V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, and at the following Ster-Kinekor cinemas: Bedford Square, Sandton and Cedar Square in Johannesburg; Mimosa in Bloemfontein; Somerset in Somerset West; and at Blue Route in Cape Town.

Running for 150 minutes, the cinema broadcast also includes exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with select members of the cast and crew.

Bookings are now open for this once-off special cinema event.

For booking information, visit www.sterkinekor.com. Follow us on Twitter @nouveaubuzz and @sterkinekor and on Facebook at Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau. For queries, contact Ticketline on 0861 Movies (668 437).

The discounts and benefits for cardholders of SK Club, Discovery Vitality and Edgars Club loyalty programmes apply for all live theatre productions. Special prices for school and group bookings are also available on request.